Todd Witteles is saying over at Neverwin that there’ll be another report on a “major network” regarding corporate greed — and part of the show will be mentioning the UB/AP scandal.
Doesn’t sound like necessarily new info — but regardless, the kinda rehash that both sides of online-poker legislation will try to claim as an example of why we need to legalize/ban online poker.
The defendant, Kevin Raley, has already been found not-guilty … but the state’s appeal succeeded in getting the testimony of Robert Hannum, Professor of Statistics at the University of Denver, thrown out on the grounds that Colorado law had already put poker in its gambling place. So now Raley is moving forward, even though he’s already — and still — in the clear.
From thePPA.org:
Poker Players Alliance Supports Appeal to Colorado Supreme Court
Washington, DC (August 12, 2009) –The Poker Players Alliance (PPA), the leading poker grassroots advocacy group with more than one million members nationwide and more than 13,000 in Colorado, today expressed its support for efforts to appeal a ruling in state intermediate court that poker is predominately a game of chance as part of Colorado v. Kevin Raley.
The defendant, Kevin Raley, will file a petition in Colorado Supreme Court requesting an appeal of the intermediate court’s ruling that poker is gambling under Colorado law.
“The PPA is going to do everything in its power to support Mr. Raley’s efforts in order to protect PPA members and all poker players in the state of Colorado,” said Gary Reed, PPA’s Colorado State Director. “I am especially alarmed because this ruling ignores the abundance of research that proves poker is a game of skill and confuses rather than clarifies the matter for law enforcement that may use their scarce resources to raid and arrest poker players instead of investigating real unlawful activity in the state.”
A couple of great pieces for weekend reading…
Amy Calistri always has eyes on the stock market and the corporate goings-on of poker-related businesses, and her latest take on the sale of the WPT assets is right on the money. She gives the latest about stockholder rage over the WPT/Gamynia move and puts into words what I’ve been thinking for years, since shortly after I left the WPT fold and began to notice its downfall. That’s not to say it can’t rise again, but it might need new leadership to make that happen. An excerpt:
Frustration and envy appear to be the seeds of the series of missteps that sapped millions of dollars and focus away from the company’s core business. While the WPT helped create the poker boom, its television production business model only got a small piece of the obscene profits that were being generated by poker’s popularity. Online poker companies and online media sites reaped the lion’s share. This infuriated the WPT; they felt they were owed.
Gambling law professor I. Nelson Rose can break down a legal document or political issue like nobody’s business, and it’s a good thing he took the time to analyze the Menendez bill introduced to the Senate this week. Thanks to Poker Grump, this piece takes a look at the 91-page document and sheds some light on the proposed participation of states in the regulation/licensing of online poker, the tax on deposits to online sites, and the possible exemption of sites like PartyPoker from licensing. A sampling from the article:
Taxes might be a problem. The Frank bills have no limit on what taxes states can impose on operators, but limit the federal government to what is called a fee of 2% on deposits. Menendez is asking for less and more: A Federal Internet gaming license fee of 5% of deposited funds and a State or Indian tribal government gaming license fee of another 5%. This does get over the big problem with the Frank bills, that the big states, like California, where the customers will be, have no incentive to support Internet gambling operated and taxed by Nevada. Under Menendez, California gets that 5% tax. Although the states won’t like this provision: Tribes are treated like states, so if a player is on Indian land, that tribe gets the full 5% and the state in which the tribe is located gets nothing.
Of course, the tax system is still screwy, since it is a tax on deposits, not revenue. But it might work.
Ed. Note: Will be curious to see what gets more views — the latest episode of Perspectives Weekly or Face the Ace. LOL. -dm
Breaking News! A grand jury has just indicted an online gambling payment processor! Plus, a New Jersey Senator rolls out new poker legislation, and affiliate programs change their Terms & Conditions!
Not sure yet where to begin … and while the concept of playing competitive video-game tournaments online for real money isn’t exactly new (FIFA interactive World Cup, eg) … it’s apparently about to get a whole lot easier.
The site is called BringIt.com, and will be legal in 39 US states. (Like holy fugk, you can even transfer funds via PayPal!)
http://www.gamepolitics.com/2009/08/03/site-allows-players-wager-video-games-legal-39-states
BringIt plans to make money on a rake — pretty much just like poker — as well as some fund withdrawal processing fees. The Associated Press on the legality of it all here.
Depending on how all this shakes down, game of luck vs. skill definitives will be even more relevant than before … and at a minimum may open a new window for online poker to distinguish itself from online gambling. The online (non-poker) gaming sites that will inevitably spring up should BringIt actually bring it, meanwhile, will have to deal with all the same regulatory stuff that we want to deal with to protect fairness, ensure integrity, disable cheat codes, etc.
Still too early to tell. And BringIt is only supposed to go live in low-stakes Beta this week. But it should be a very interesting site to watch …
(Thanks @MSomm for the tip.)
A $200 charity tourney in Florida is hardly big news, but I find it interesting when it’s a fundraiser put on by police, to raise money for a fellow officer (who has ALS).
First off, I just get pissy — because why can’t Texas see what we are missing by being so anti-poker. I mean sheeot, the state of Texas is building what may well become one of the biggest non-Vegas casinos in all of America right across the border in Oklahoma … because of the belief that poker offends Republican primary voters’ moral sensibilities. I mean either we don’t believe that, and just are stupid for letting OK make all the $$, or we do believe that, and therefore are being pretty unneighborly (at least from a Christian perspective) by letting our good friends to the north destroy themselves — and our people — with poker.
But I digress … this tournament reminds me why poker is different from so many other similar political issues — and it’s stuff “our side” should remember when trying to push through our political agenda.
As far as “alternative” political issues … the one most in line with poker right now would seem to be marijuana. They too are flooding Washington DC with supportive letters — and are making essentially the same plea: regulate and tax us, please!
While I’m not so sure potheads are the best company to be in, politically — they’re making moves, but it’s taking decades, because you know, potheads are seldom in a hurry — there is such a clear difference here. And that is you would never see a group of cops hosting a “bake” sale to raise money for a comrade-in-need … as good of an idea as that may be.
Though a few cops playing cards certainly isn’t any deal-maker on the political front, separating poker from other forms of “vice” seems to me would be an essential part of any plan to legitimize the game … so this helps. Save Captain Sargent!
This might be better for Facebook, but I just had to share … you know, stayin’ true to the roots after some fam-time in Tejas last week …
“Grandma” (right), the matriarch of the Michalski clan, teaching her 2-year-old great-grandson (and Pokerati nephew) the concept of jacks-or-better:
Luke reportedly likes it when the flush gets there and the bells ring.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram has a pretty good story … and though bummer that they described the honcho here at Pokerati as little more than “Dan Michalski, who runs a poker Web site” … hey, such is life and media control … and overall, yay on the one quote they chose to share with those whom we are trying to educate.
Nothing we don’t already know … but again, good that the national non-poker media is at least aware. And if we learned anything from our efforts in Texas over the post several years, the media still loves poker-related legal stories. Something to keep in mind when we make a more serious push.
the biggest problem for poker enthusiasts appears to be an already crowded legislative agenda. Frank has pushed his bill off until September.
I almost forgot that when this National Poker Week was conceived, it was supposed to coincide with active hearings. Can’t help but wonder how that might’ve made things different.
Many of you often give me a hard time because of my aversion to “statistics” and “data” … and though generally I don’t care about appeasing the peons “readers”, I found some of this info below on the “interesting” and “informative” side.
So let’s kick it Harper’s Index-style, shall we?
Poker-related letters sent to members of Congress in July 2009: > 150,000
Poker-related letters sent to Congress in 2008: 77,000
Issues other than health care reform that have generated more letters to Congress in 2009 (including war in Iraq, recession, and gas prices): 0
Meetings scheduled between PPA representatives and Congressional offices in a two-day period: 110
Meetings missed by either PPA reps or Congressional staffers: 6
Number of lobbyists engaged in National Poker Week initiative: about 40
Number of consulting firms retained: 7, I think
Number of Players in the PPA tournament benefitting the USO: 180ish
Wounded vets competing: 31
Patients who qualified for seats via semi-regular tournaments at Walter Reed Hospital: 25
Money donated by the PPA to the USO up front: $25,000
Amount added to donation from $100 rebuys: $10,000
Rebuys from Annie Duke: 15
Rebuys from Howard Lederer: > 10
Rebuys for veterans put up by the Interactive Gaming Council: 10
Noted poker pros competing: Not totally sure, but probably about 10-15
Members of Congress competing: 7
Highest finish by a wounded Iraq war veteran: 1st
You can see how the debate over online poker regulation is getting more sophisticated. (And it makes a fun subplot during these times of health care debate.) While our side has effectively taken the argument away from our opponents about needing to protect children and potential addicts (and John Pappas’ TV skillz have gotten more polished), Les Bernal of Stop Predatory Gambling is now claiming the online poker model is unsustainable because it relies on 10 percent losing players to profit. (I think Full Tilt and PokerStars would respectfully disagree.)
While the opposition argument may be one of those frustrating argghs from someone who clearly just doesn’t get it — poker profits are based on rake, not degenerates who can’t afford their next buy-in — you can see we are moving to that next necessary phase of poker enlightenment, which is separating poker from other forms of gambling.
I couldn’t resist posting the view of where I’m blogging from. There’s something quite serene about sitting on grass in pinstripe slacks, leaning against a tree, with the view seen here …
I’m in a park just outside the Senate office building, where I just had a meeting with a rising* Kay Bailey Hutchison staffer. Didn’t get to pitch the future governor of Texas senator herself — today is a crazy health care day around the Capitol — but we did get to educate her office on a Senate online poker bill that will supposedly be introduced in the next week or two. This bill — a re-introduction of Sen. Robert Menendez’s (D-NJ) S-3616 — will be “like the Barney Frank bill, only it’s a cleaner bill … without any political bullshit,” one lobbyist explained to me.
Anyhow, the meeting went well, or at least well-ish. It was clear that KBH’s office hadn’t yet given any consideration to poker nor online gambling … so we got to lead out, and counteract the opposition arguments before they were even made. One noted positive — her staff has already been hit by a mini flood of letters supporting all our anti-UIGEA initiatives, so they know it’s an issue that matters to a sizable enough constituency to make it matter to elected officials, who apparently are very aware of any issue that potentially leaves them losing voters in bulk.
With that said, it also became clear that Hutchison (R-TX) will not be leading the way on this bill. Her staff was most interested in where Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) currently stands. Now while we know him as a previous bad guy, he and other UIGEA strongmen are apparently “coming around”. That’s not to say they’re suddenly going to switch teams, but Howard Lederer specifically made some persuasive arguments that made him far less likely to vehemently oppose us. The estimated $3 billion a year (which doesn’t even count the corporate taxes American-based online poker companies would pay) is resonating loud and clear, particularly this week as those wanting to position themselves as fiscal conservatives are trying to come up with a way to support health care despite its $200 billion shortfall. And being pegged as people who turned down tax revenue generated on behalf of protecting citizens and internet freedoms alike, they know may not sit well with voters.
We all know how difficult and complicated poker-related legislation can get/be in the United States … and we often look at Europe as providing a model of how things could and should be. However, things can actually get pretty complicated across the pond — different languages and all — and if anything, what we have to compare is how actively engaged so many different countries are in dealing with difficult online gambling legal matters … while we in the US seem much more content moving slowly as we figure out how we really will handle billions of dollars worth of online, multi-jurisdictional financial transactions in the 21st century … you know, in a way that doesn’t get the NFL’s fantasy panties in a wad.
Seriously, if it weren’t for the PPA — which we all know is a mere infant, toddler at best, amongst American political organizations — I’m not so sure we’d be moving at all on these matters … and the United States would be leaving it to the Europeans to establish frameworks for what ultimately will prove to be trillions of dollars worth of virtual finance in the future. That’s the undercurrent of why we’re all here in Washington DC right now … as much as we say, and many believe, it’s just about the freedom to bring more dead money into the game.
It’s a lot to chew on, I know. And while you may not have the inclination or scratch to lay down for Gambling Compliance’s new book on the online gambling situation in Europe, you can click here to read a 5-page summary of Market Barriers: An impartial and comprehensive evaluation of the current legal, regulatory and market landscape for online gambling in Europe:
An entirely new and independently researched 80,000 word survey, the report provides an impartial and comprehensive snapshot of the regulation of Europe’s online gambling sector – a market that the European Commission estimates to be worth US$10.1bn by 2010.
Detailed analysis of all 27 EU member states underlines how the proliferation of national level rules is steadily balkanising Europe’s gambling market and creating new conflicts and regulatory risks for operators:
Europe’s online gambling map is being redrawn with unprecedented speed. 19 of 27 member states across Europe are currently addressing online gambling through reform, while seven of these have made concrete plans to shift towards local licensing models.
Financial transaction (FT) and ISP blocking restrictions are gathering momentum. Since the introduction of payment blocking regulations in the United States in 2006, seven EU member states have introduced mechanisms for blocking online gambling, and a further eight jurisdictions are presently considering blocking measures as part of broader reform debates.
As the nature of European licensing changes, existing land-based casinos and national lottery monopolies are starting to move online while previously excluded private operators are entering markets as B2B service and payment providers.
A product of GamblingCompliance’s international legal research team, the report cites legislation, much of which is not available in English, and uses over 50 primary sources including exclusive consultation with regulators and legal experts on the ground in each jurisdiction.
Price costs £899 for non-subscribers and £799 for subscribers.
Howard Stern wasn’t the only one to join the PPA this week (aka “National Poker Week”). Caught up in the poker-politicky whirlwinds emanating from Washington DC, Russ Hamilton also became a member, as seen here:
Says Hamilton, according to sources plausibly fabricated out of thin air: “Joining the PPA is the right thing to do. It shows you are a good person who really cares about protecting poker players from internet malfeasance. We need US regulation to ensure a fair playing field for all, and so we can appropriately punish anyone who might steal 10s of millions of dollars from unknowing American players. Ha ha ha ha! LOL.”
Hamilton says he also plans to sign the Poker Petition (350k electronic signatures and climbing) and may even submit a video to MyPokerStory.com.
“Mine is a really good one,” he says.
Congressional staffers hold the keys to Representative doorways, and one of the first steps this week was educating these gatekeepers on WTF we’re talking about. Not the issues at hand per se — yay personal freedom and taxation! — but the logistics of regulating the pokery brand of internet commerce (while protecting players and children, keeping addiction in check, generating tax revenue, etc.).
Joining Annie Duke and PPA Exec. Dir. John Pappas for the panel discussion — attended by some 50 or so congressional staffers — were:
· Dr. Parry Aftab, Executive Director, Wired Safety (www.wiredsafety.org)
· Stuart Dross, Vice President, Cigital (www.cigital.com)
· Paul Mathews, independent consultant, former executive with International Game Technology
Big news out of the Russian Federation, as the global (and inevitable) poker shakedown continues …
According to this PokerListings article translated via Google, the Ministry of Sport, Tourism, and Youth Policy have revoked poker’s status as a sport — making it illegal to play except for in four designated gambling zones, one of which happens to be in Siberia.
Some 70 Russian poker clubs face a shutdown as a result of the non-sport designation, and it’s not yet clear what this will mean for the fate of EPT Moscow, the next European Poker Tour event, scheduled for August, other than that the Pokerstarzistan-spawned tourney tour would likely have to cough up some extra bucks for appropriate licensing to play — as that event has been planned to take place in a Radison hotel, as opposed to a casino.
Fuckin’ commies! Russians won the fourth highest amount of money for any nation at the 2009 WSOP, and the Ruskie Federation finished 6th in the world in terms of bracelets and final tables.
Here’s a thread on 2+2 from The Engineer (@TheEngineer2008) with his pics from the various meetings around the Hill this week.
National Poker Week kicked off with Al D’Amato on Howard Stern yesterday, and Howard Stern joining, on-air, the Poker Players Alliance. While I couldn’t help but wonder if anyone listens to Howard Stern anymore — or is he kinda like Friendster … you know, very Web 1.0 — apparently Stern does still have a few million listeners, most of whom had little clue about poker issues before yesterday, when D’Amato also discussed the possibilities of more legal marijuana in America and the joys of an elder man banging his pregnant wife. So mission accomplished, at least as far as injecting our issues into the semi-intelligent American discourse is concerned.
From the Examiner:
D’Amato (who sounds a lot like Gilbert Gottfried to the untrained ear) told Howard Stern that he believes that America should get out of both Iraq and Afghanistan immediately, stating that both wars are unwinnable. D’Amato also spoke about current efforts to reform the U.S. healthcare system. D’Amato stated that he preferred “marginal” reform to overhauling the entire system, which he states would result in huge tax increases for most Americans.
“What about legalizing pot?” asked Howard Stern, pointing to new reports about the flourishing legal marijuana industry in California.
After thinking on it carefully, D’Amato responded: “I think there’s some merit in it.”
It wasn’t all shop talk for Alfonse D’Amato. Howard Stern asked D’Amato some of his classic questions. Alfonse D’Amato admitted that he still regularly has sex with his 6-month pregnant wife, spoke about it openly, and then sheepishly followed up his response by saying: “This isn’t going to be on TV is it?”
To celebrate this momentous kick-start to a week of DC-centric poker politicking, the PPA unveiled a press release font upgrade and added the color blue to its official statement on Stern’s membership:
This week we look at Representative Barney Frank’s visit to the World Series of Poker where he inspired the Main Event crowd! Plus we have industry news from 888.com and the iMega Group.
As you probably know, the PPA is collecting short videos at MyPokerStory.com. The purpose, as far as I can tell, is to put something together for the coming legislative push that (quickly) shows on-the-fence Congresspeople that poker players are a diverse group of citizens, who care about the game for more than degenerate reasons, and ultimately that the our bills tap into a motivate-able mass spread across a wide spectrum of the American populace. Here’s PPA Chairman Al D’Amato’s poker story:
LOL, you can see why the PPA needs your help. (No offense, retired Senator … just saying they probably need more than just you to convey their message.) All it takes is a minute or two in front of your computer cam and a few clicks. I tried to submit mine, but it apparently violated YouTube TOS. (Hey, I can’t help that I learned so much at The Lodge. So she was naked … it’s still a bad beat.) So in the meantime, as a placeholder for Dan’s poker story, I’ve submitted this:
For a bunch of really good ones (and some humorously not so good) check ‘em out the poker stories here. On a serious side, OK, I’m making a little light, but these really are a good reminder of why the fate of a silly little computer game matters to so many.
It was no secret. It has been public information since mid-June, and the PPA announced it days ago that House Financial Services Committee Chairman Rep. Barney Frank made plans to visit the WSOP today. First, he took to the floor of the Amazon Room to speak to the Day 1C players and issue the “shuffle up and deal command,” after which he toured the Rio Convention Center to see poker’s bizness and held a press conference at 1pm. You’d think it might be quite an event for those with any interest in the future of the poker industry.
But while the general reception Frank received in the Amazon Room was positive, it also gave an indication of what kind of struggles his efforts face. Beyond having to deal with the self-promotional shenanigans of Phil Hellmuth and all he brings to the table in the name of poker (for better or worse), behind me on the rail were some poker players/fans/bigots who made hateful gay jokes during his entire short-but-semi-important speech.
Nearing the 1pm start of the press conference in the Full Tilt Chris Ferguson suite, there were about 5 reporters present. No kidding. By the time Frank began speaking, there were possibly twice that, excluding PPA representatives and Full Tilt Poker bigwigs. Of the 5-8 media outlets represented, ESPN got their headshot early and left, before the speech had hardly started.
Some of what the disinterested might have missed:
~It is likely that the Obama Administration was not behind the Southern District of New York’s seizure of more than $30 million in online poker site payments, though Frank is pursuing answers and will attempt to clarify the role of the Department of Justice in the actions.
~While Frank’s current proposed legislation (H.R. 2267) may not be heard in committee until September, it is a priority for Frank to push his companion legislation (H.R. 2266) that will delay the implementation of the UIGEA through 2010.
Meanwhile, everyone else was standing outside the Rio waiting for Phil Hellmuth to arrive in a chariot with scantily-clad chicks, then following him down the hall like he was someone important President Obama. After that embarrassment spectacle, I noticed that there was more media interested in interviewing a WSOP player wearing a full-length Indian headdress than were in the Frank press conference.
(Sigh.)
I just can’t help but wonder if the people who ignored Frank’s presence today will be the same ones asking why the delay in passing pro-poker legislation, or why their online poker funds are frozen, or why they have trouble finding work in the poker industry.
Editor’s Note: The previous week’s episode never made it up on Pokerati … but it should’ve — particularly as we enter into a summer-fall of political discourse on the plusses and minuses of online gambling regulation. Specifically, check out about 7 minutes in, where J Todd discusses how our good friends at Betfair were able to help protect the integrity of tennis by alerting authorities to a noticeably heavy bet-load on an obscure Wimbledon match.
Three more guilty pleas in the BetOnSports case in the United States, and the European Commission is now warning the American government to reconsider its ban on online gambling. Plus, industry news from Antigua and Wimbledon.
It seems like the payment processor crackdown may be contained — with freezing activities limited to that $33 million seized a couple weeks ago. I’m not hearing any more stories of bounced checks, and I just got an email from Full Tilt (encouraging me to activate my latest bonus) that implies all is back to normal, at least on the player’s end, or at least is not spreading:
We’ve recently reduced the minimum re-deposit (reload) amount from $50 to $30. You can deposit using a variety of payment methods, including instant eChecks – check the Cashier for full details.
(Emphasis theirs, not mine.)
Does this jibe with what everyone else is finding, at Full Tilt, Stars, UB, and elsewhere?
Not all over the place — but on its buses at least, and maybe at the airport.
The Utah Transit Authority, which polices Salt Lake City’s FrontRunner train system, has passed an ordinance prohibiting using its free wifi to surf porn, engage in online gambling, or view other “inappropriate” websites. Violators face a $300-$500 fine. The Salt Lake City airport will offer free wifi starting July 1 — and they are deciding whether or not to enact similar anti-poker online prohibitions.
Big Brother implications and presumptive poker outrage aside, I gotta say, this really ain’t so bad. There should be local option elections, as opposed to a federal (or even state) law prohibiting certain behaviors. And the UTA ordinance doesn’t prohibit playing online poker in other public places — just on their trains when using taxpayer-funded wi-fi systems. I’m not so sure I’d want my Mormon kids to see the results of a kid hopped up on Red Bull getting two-outered at the bubble of a WSOP main event qualifier.
In fact, I’d rather have this method — punishing violators — than pre-emptive filters — which I have found in some airports to block out legitimate news sites that happen to cover gambling, such as Pokerati CardPlayer.
The one technical question, however, is what happens if you happen to be using your own air card? Is the ordinance written in such a way that makes online wagers over the UTA’s service the misdemeanor, or is it the location? Will be an interesting case when some kid home for the summer from BYU finds himself going deep in a Sunday Millions and is running late to meet his parents at church.
Watch the local-news vid below for a decent exploration of the legal issues involved — mostly as they relate to porn but also for the online gambling that’s lumped in with it:
The Internet Gambling Regulation Consumer Protection and Enforcement Act of 2009 (aka Leave No Pot Behind) is gearing up for its Congressional push … I’ll be honest, few sources I’ve spoken to give this legislation much chance — at least not until Sen Harry Reid (D-NV) gets on board, and a little Obama-attended fundraiser hosted by Harrah’s at the Caesar’s Palace Poker Room is hardly enough to guarantee that.* However, thanks in part to publicity brought on by the crackdown on online payment processors, the bill seems to be gaining more momentum than anyone expected.
Four more congresspeople signed on as co-sponsors Friday, bringing the total number to 30:
Rep. Steve Dreihaus (D-OH)
Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY)
Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ)
Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO)
Now before my Libertarian and Conservative friends get on my case about this bill more Democratic socialism, just know that Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) is a big backer of HR 2267, so if Dr. No can say yes, then so can I — regardless of my poker bias.
The bill was also sent on Friday to the House Judiciary subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security. Good thing — since one of the first arguments against it is that online poker funds terrorism, when we know full well that even if that were true, it’s all the more reason to regulate it. To follow the progress of HR 2267 as it moves through Congress, click here.
* MGM/Mirage is reportedly neutral on the bill, and Steve Wynn supposedly strongly against.
The Associated Press is at least paying attention to the developments reported here on Pokerati in what is sure to be a complex legal situation — one that already is bringing up not just legally questionable issues of non-brick-and-mortar gambling, but also money laundering. They also clear up some of the details about who got tagged and how:
Documents obtained by the AP show that a judge in the district issued a seizure warrant last week for an account at a Wells Fargo bank in San Francisco, and that a federal prosecutor told a bank in Arizona to freeze an account.
In a letter dated Friday and faxed to Alliance Bank of Arizona, the prosecutor said that accounts held by payment processor Allied Systems Inc. are subject to seizure and forfeiture “because they constitute property involved in money laundering transactions and illegal gambling offenses.” The letter was signed by Arlo Devlin-Brown, the assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.
In another letter faxed the same day, Devlin-Brown asks that the bank treat the funds “as legally seized” by the FBI, saying that the government has probable cause that the gambling payments of U.S. residents had been directed to offshore illegal Internet gambling businesses.
Meanwhile, the British press is reporting:
America might be about to loosen its gambling corsets
These two stories aren’t as mutually exclusive as they might seem. Often, when times are changing, old holdovers from a previous philosophical era will turn uber-aggressive with their means and methods trying to give their way one last shot, and at a minimum hoping to take a few folks down with them as their kind are pushed out.
That’s certainly plausible considering how emphatic bureaucrats in the DOJ have been about the illegality of online poker/gambling even when the people and courts have repeatedly disagreed.
Ah, once upon a time ret. Sen. Al D’Amato (R-NY) held real power … regardless, he’s still trying to wield his influence over federal actions in his home state, and the PPA statement around his statement says something about the seriousness of the payment processor account-freezing situation while confusing this quasi-legally savvy journo/not-a-lawyer on the difference between warrants and subpoenas:
PPA Statement on Southern District of NY Action Against Online Poker Players
Letter Sent to Assistant US Attorney Requesting Presence at Future HearingsWASHINGTON, DC (June 9, 2009) – The Poker Players Alliance (PPA), the leading poker grassroots advocacy group with more than one million members nationwide, today released the following statement by PPA Chairman Alfonse D’Amato on questionable actions taken by a federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York to freeze payment processor accounts containing more than $30 million in poker players’ deposits and payouts.
The PPA also sent a letter to the Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York asking for an opportunity to be heard in any future warrant hearings. The letter is available at www.pokerplayersalliance.org.
While online poker forces and their internet freedom allies continue to fight a war of attrition in Kentucky, principals in Minnesota have not just called a cease-fire — the State halting efforts to force telecom companies to block citizen access to a random assortment of gambling-ish sites — but also the potential adversaries, who met face-to-face in St. Paul last week, seem to be forming a truce, looking for ways they can work together to regulate/tax online poker, etc. within Minnesota borders:
Minn. regulators drop bid to block online gambling [Associated Press via @ppapoker]
“We have not folded our hand,” said Andy Skoogman, a spokesman for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, where gambling regulators are housed. He said he expects new strategies for regulating Internet gambling to emerge.
“The action raised awareness of the broader issue about who is policing the Internet and protecting the consumer,” he said. “At this point, we don’t feel there is anybody. This is an issue that every state is going to face sooner rather than later.”
A bunch of PPA state directors and politically involved pros are already booking their plans for after the WSOP — they’re headed to Washington DC for an aggressive play by the PPA supposedly dubbed National Poker Week.
Should be a most interesting gathering — different from previous pokery political collectives in that there are so many legal issues playing out in real ways right now (Kentucky, Minnesota, Pokerstarzistan, etc.) … and all this with a pretty important-looking nuts-and-bolts online banking regulation bill in play … with non-pokery representatives finally aware of the online poker murmurs, and public opinion clearly leaning in our favor.
None of this is super-confirmed — government officials don’t work “on the record” over the weekend — but here’s what we are hearing from presumably reliable sources regarding payment troubles at PokerStars and elsewhere:
(Again, this is all subject to factual revision — the news-gathering process can be messy business — but it’s definitely not a joke like our “news” of the Russ Hamilton/Full Tilt banner endorsement. Question marks added on stuff we’re less clear about; grain of salt knowing some sources may have a “message” they want out there.)
If the WinStar poker room and Pokerati were Facebook friends, our relationship status would be “it’s complicated.” See, to some extent we have a lot of problems with WinStar — because their Chickasaw overlords have teamed up with both the Choctaw Nation and some old-school right-wing “anti-gambling” forces to put the kibosh on all our efforts to bring fully legal poker to Texas. But at the same time, they provide some of the best poker action and most comfortable environ currently available to North Texas players … in fact, I might say that if you exclude Las Vegas, WinStar is arguably one of the Top 10 poker rooms in the country.
I’m hearing that 4 of the top 100 players to cash in the 6,012-player $1k Stimulus Special were WinStar regulars. While those numbers don’t suggest any super-mad poker power — 4 percent of the top 1.7 percent — they do confirm that WinStar is indeed a WSOP force to contend with. Names forthcoming … and help me out if you happen to already know whom I should be looking for. (I’m admittedly a tad out of the WinStar loop since, you know, I kinda fight every two years to put them out of business.)
Ding ding! Let the first round of the official debate begin!
U.S. News & World Report provided a forum for representatives of both sides of the issue of legalizing and regulating (and taxing) online gaming. When Rep. Barney Frank introduced H.R. 2267 on May 6, Rep. Spencer Bachus was quick to respond with a blurb about criminals, youth, blah blah. But the U.S. News piece allowed both parties to cool down and present their opinions with some bias thought.
In this corner, we have the winning argument from Frank, with a heavy concentration on the personal freedom aspect of the issue. He also takes the time to counter some of the arguments like the alleged criminal element and the sports betting worries. A few excerpts:
With Gambling, Personal Freedom Is Always the Best Bet, Says Barney Frank
There are many vices in the U.S. Those that hurt others must be stopped. Online gaming need not be.
Posted June 1, 2009
By Barney Frank
Massachusetts Democrat and chairman of the House Financial Services CommitteeThere is one major reason that leads me to oppose the ban on Internet gambling: It is an activity that adult Americans enjoy and that does no conceivable harm to anybody else…
Air Force One just landed at McCarren airport. The President is headed to Caesar’s Palace, for apparently what is a semi-controversial “junket” fundraiser for Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV). We can not, however, confirm the rumor that he is in town to give the WSOP Stimulus tourney a $1 trillion overlay, nor that he plans to satellite into a Venetian Deep Stacks event.
Poker players arriving in town for the WSOP (via delayed flights) are twittering about it.
@Ali_Nejad has a pic of the motorcade.
LOL: Evelyn Ng and Erica Schoenberg just got done with their bikini photo shoot (with Tiffany Michelle) for Knockout magazine, and they’re all pissy about being stuck in traffic on the Strip — presumably unaware of why things are extra-congested on a Tuesday afternoon.
UPDATE: @JeffreyPollack is off to meet @BarackObama right now. Pre-emptive conclusion: good for poker!
UPDATE: President now headed to the Caesar’s Palace poker room. (Seriously.) via @Andy_Bloch.
Leftover but good-for-viewing vid … PPA Executive Director John Pappas on CNBC … not just speaking on behalf of the latest Barney Frank legislation, but establishing the baseline for where discussion on these matters begins … it’s good to see the mainstream Wall Street press at least understanding the basics so they won’t have to waste their time filtering through the first line of crap the opposition throws their way:
via Wicked Chops.
Also … more online poker issues being laid out for the non-poker public in ESPN: The Magazine. And the Washington Post is letting people know that the American masses have spoken — directly to Barack Obama — and they want two things to get this country back on track: legal pot and legal online poker money transfers.
Thanks, Huff, for the latter link.
Watching this almost makes me wanna cry. Do you realize how close we were to turning Texas race tracks into full-fledged poker rooms? I don’t think you do! But alas, in the end we were killed by something akin to an inverse filibuster … and all in the same week that Annie Duke got slowrolled on Celebrity Apprentice …
In what is arguably nearly as compelling drama, in the above vid Rep. Jose Menendez delivers last rites to HB 222 — but not before being ridiculed and taunted with terrible poker metaphors (delivered in practically Corky-like fashion) from the representatives who were ready to lead the fight against this bill on the floor.
While Texas poker players pushing for fully legal Texas Hold’em did not get the House vote they were looking for, Menendez’s address does mark the first time the game was ever made a real issue in the Texas Legislature. Having achieved such footnote status in the historical almanac, the insinuation on where we go from here is that next time both sides should gear up for a full-on battle spirited debate over a bill looking to create California-style card rooms … in a year where the threat of a veto carries less weight, no less.
The irony of this comic does not escape me:
(This should be our new answer to anything the anti-poker morality lobby throws our way.)
Interesting article about the nationwide move (on a state, not federal level) to legalize sports betting, and other attempts at “gambling expansion” depending on where you live.
Barney Frank has finally debuted his bill to Repeal the UIGEA and set-up a regulatory frame work for the online gambling industry in the United States! Also, industry news from Minnesota, Illinois, and the biggest jackass in the industry!
Good article in Congressional Quarterly about Barney Frank’s online gambling regulatory framework bill and Rep. Jim McDermott’s (D-WA) HR 2268, which sets up associated tax collection measures.
TRIVIA: Does anyone know the bill number for the UIGEA? Free satanic spade swag-shirt for the first correct commentor.
The article points out what a significant move it is by Harrah’s to be so publicly behind these legislative measures, and the relevance of Rep. Shelley Berkeley’s (D-NV) full-on support. (She previously supported only studying the issue.) Overall, the non-partisan piece is far more optimistic than most of us poker-biz “professionals” … but even CQ knows they’re just guessing. What it does, however, is establish the baseline, from where Congressional dialogue on online gambling will be starting. (So we’ll have to deal a lot with addiction and protection-of-minor issues, but not so much with 1/3 of them attempting suicide the first time they suffer a bad beat.)
From the PPA:
Hi all,
Texas Gov. Perry is blocking the vote on HB222 (the bill that legalized land-based poker in Texas). Let’s all amp up the pressure!
Contact info:
Phone: (800) 252-9600
Twitter: @GovernorPerryI believe we should hit with calls and Twitters. This was effective at getting us heard in Minn., so let’s try it here. I wrote up some Tweets to Twitter. It takes just seconds to send these out, so let’s all pitch in!
Click here to send Tweet #1: RT @PPApoker: PLZ tell TX @GovernorPerry at (800) 252-9600 to stop blocking a vote on HB 222, a bill that allows poker in Texas. PLS RT!”
Click here to send Tweet #2: “RT @PPApoker: PLZ tell TX @GovernorPerry at (800) 252-9600 that poker is a game of skill that should be legal in Texas. PLS RT.”
Also, if Perry follows you on Twitter, you can send him a direct message:
Click here to send the direct message: “D GovernorPerry: Texas Hold’em is a game of skill that should be legal in Texas. Can you end your HB222 vote block? THX! http://is.gd/uNvv”
I posted this to P5s at http://www.pocketfives.com/poker-forums/7/new-letter-to-congress-please-send-4240404 and http://www.pocketfives.com/poker-forums/8/texas-poker-legalization-people-living-in-texas-plz-read-4204172 . If you get a chance, please consider posting a message of encouragement there to get others to pitch in. After all, 2+2 responded to this by giving me a warning; P5s responded by stickying my thread for the day (I didn’t ask them to).
Thanks!
Rich
Our non-friends at Texans Against Gambling told their influential members that they needed to combat big-time casino lobbying dollars supposedly pushing HB 222. However, they don’t tell you who received a lot of those gambling-interest dollars, nor that a some of them were being spent to defeat the bill.
By all means, our good poker friends in Oklahoma have contributed their fair share to keep Texans playing in their Indian nations … but frankly, it’s a very small percentage of the $7.6 million spent on gambling-related Texas politicking in 2007-08 — and they’re not exactly being hypocrites about any of it, save for maybe riding the coattails of those who are.
Amount
|
Recipient (Party) |
Tribe |
|
$35,000
|
Lt. Governor David Dewhurst(R) | Choctaw |
|
$25,000
|
Stars Over Texas PAC(R) | Choctaw |
|
$20,000
|
Lt. Governor David Dewhurst(R) | Chickasaw |
|
$15,000
|
TX Repub. Legislative Caucus(R) | Chickasaw |
|
$10,000
|
Attorney General Greg Abbott(R) | Choctaw |
|
$10,000
|
Sen. Kip Averitt(R) | Choctaw |
|
$10,000
|
Sen. Kim Brimer(R)* | Choctaw |
|
$10,000
|
Rep. Tom Craddick(R) | Chickasaw |
|
$10,000
|
Sen. Bob Deuell(R) | Choctaw |
|
$10,000
|
Sen. Kevin Eltife(R) | Choctaw |
|
$10,000
|
Sen. Chris Harris(R) | Choctaw |
|
$10,000
|
House Dem. Campaign Com.(D) | Chickasaw |
|
$10,000
|
Sen. Jane Nelson(R) | Choctaw |
|
$10,000
|
Sen. Tommy Williams(R) | Choctaw |
Click below for an even more interesting look at the Texas pols who taking the most gambling-industry dollars. I wonder how his morality-minded base feels about Gov. Rick Perry coming in at #2, with nearly $800k in gambling-interest love.
I swear this won’t tilt anybody … but here’s the alert sent out Thursday by Texans Against Gambling to generate enough support for a change of course that, frankly, I still don’t fully understand.
Via the fair-minded, conservative Off the Kuff …
TAG lies have been boldfaced:
Statement from Texans Against Gambling:
Weston Ware, legislative director for Texans Against Gambling, issued this statement today regarding House Bill 222, which legalizes poker, including electronic poker, in Texas. The bill was voted out of Calendars Committee on Thursday and will be scheduled for a floor vote.“This bill is not about legalizing poker games with friends around the kitchen table. It is a ploy by the pro-gambling industry to crack Texas’ constitutional ban against gambling by making the absurd argument that poker is not a game of chance, but of skill.
“The next time someone uses their skill as a player to get dealt three-of-a-kind, call me.
“HB 222, among other things, would allow electronic poker tables to operate 24/7 in bars and restaurants. These Class III gambling devices mimic the addictive qualities of slot machines based on the speed of play (a good player can go through as many as 12 hands a minute).They have the ability to keep players playing (many video-poker outlets are open 24 hours and it’s not unusual to hear of someone’s playing 36 hours straight). Also, the machines are designed to create the false perception that skill is involved in what is ultimately a game of chance.
Rep. Jose Menendez stepped away briefly from the House floor to talk me off of tilt learn-me-some political sportsmanship and let concerned Pokeratizens know that no, HB 222 isn’t dead yet … but he may well have to put it to sleep if we can’t out-social-network Texas’ well-heeled right-wing-conservative power base. Why this isn’t proving to be a simple yay or nay, according to Menendez and my hastily scrawled (with an extra-large Sharpie) phone-call interview notes:
[first minute of convo not recorded nor written down]
Ahh, right, OK … I think I get it. May need to do a follow-up to clarify some of the above.
Here’s what we’re up against … I don’t want to alert them that we’re out here trying to muster up the troops … but the “Shmristian Shmlife Association” put out this memo in an attempt to deliver us a bad beat. Also, you can go to [ texans against gambling dot org -- alloneword] to see how they are suddenly putting this issue front and center.
The place that needs to hear from YOU is:
From the PPA:
Subject: Governor Perry blocking vote on poker bill-Please call now!
Earlier today the Texas House of Representatives was scheduled to vote on HB 222 –- a bill that would license and regulate poker in the state of Texas. I have since learned that this historic moment is being blocked by the Governor Rick Perry.
Please call the Governor’s office today and tell him:(800) 252-9600
· Allow a vote on HB 222
· Texans should be allowed to play Texas Hold’em.
· Don’t block action on this billPlease take immediate action!
Proud to play,
I’m following the Texas House here.(Boring, not fun.) And all I can say is I think I’m heartbroken before we’re even rollin’.
Jose Menendez (D-San Antonio), do we even know you anymore? Supposedly Gov. Rick Perry has re-re-changed his position … and so now Menendez is going to not even let the House have their vote? I honestly just don’t understand. We weren’t getting out of that damn calendars committee without his tacit thumbs-up. We got that, no? But now it’s gone? And even if so … why not force him to veto it … put his political aspirations on the line with international press CardPlayer Italia watching?
I know I’m just the political sophomore rookie here, but would he really be willing to go against more than 2/3 of the general voting populace?
With all these last-minute changes and unusual moves … someone is clearly on tilt here. Our opponents (texansagainstgambling.org) launched an all-out assault last night and are fighting har right nowo, so if you want to send any emails — even Jose himself might need a reminder of what we’re here for and who he’s supposed to be representing — you know the drill:
http://legalizepokerintexas.com/
UPDATE: Don’t spam Jose … he’s very busy right now and reminds us that no, it’s not dead, but the people do need to turn the governor now. Rick Perry’s email:
I’m going to add rick.perry@governor.state.tx.us to my CC … just by chance that gets to him more directly.
As Kevin noticed early this AM (before my post from yesterday doubting the notion went live), Texas’ HB 222 has moved out of the Calendars Committee and is scheduled for a vote on the House floor tomorrow … which means it really should happen by Tuesday at the latest. Woot! Started to get worried there for a bit, but thanks to readers like you and probably the PPA and many others helping the capitol hallway soldiers … The People of Texas, man! … Step 3 of 6 has been successfully completed.
Step 1: Introduce bill
Step 2: Pass through committee
Step 3: Calendars committee
Step 4: House vote
Step 5: Senate vote
Step 6: Governor’s sig
You can see we still have a long ways to go, but Steps 4 and 5 have to be done for sure by May 23, so this is it … we’re about to see if our hard work first steps in the process properly position us to make it through the next all-important three. And by all means, we have to go undefeated … one loss and we’re dead.
Go here or here to send the whole House of Representatives an email letting them know you hear they’ll be voting on HB 222, and that you will really admire them for seeing the sensibility of this legislation.
Meanwhile, as a reminder why this bill is important, RobD in Austin lets us know:
To put a final nail into the coffin of [any] argument against HB222, I was at a Austin poker game last night and we got robbed at gun point (5/7/09, early morning). It was in a nice neighborhood and is known to regulars as FPC. At least two people got beat up. We’re all lucky to be alive. The Travis county sherrif was called and filed a report.
This is the week … that’s what I’ve hearing from people in Austin and DC regarding legalized racetrack (and Indian Casino) poker in Texas. All seem to be staying on message, too, because that’s the same thing they were saying last week.
But HB 222 isn’t just suffocating at the bottom of the Calendars Committee inbox, supposedly … on the contrary, there’s all sorts of crazy buzzing about. “Chatter” has intensified but gone more private … not much Twittering, just lots of fights and diplomacy on secure Blackberry lines. What I’m picking up via short-wave radio:
It has something to do with the Big Casino bill (also sponsored by Rep. Menendez), which is sitting in the same inbox waiting to be kicked to either the House floor or curb; Gov. Perry (anti-gambling) vs. Spkr. Straus (pro-gambling) drawing either swords or lots, not sure which; talk of a special session, or Secession; month of November comes into play; PPA ready to deploy troops, ammo … time is or is not of essence; something about big games …
It’s true. And she’s been palling around with druggies and convicts just so she can “write about it” and (don’t tell anyone I said this) I’m even hearing unconfirmed, squalidly detailed rumors from an imaginary source that she’s got a thing for Somali pirates! I’ll pull short of calling her The Ann Coulter of Poker … but she certainly touched a nerve by questioning the “good fight” behind our beloved little Texas HB 222.
I might be extra-sensitive because, frankly, the bill seems to be stalling in Calendars Committee. Why that is, I’m not sure … they’ve heard our message, they know it has passable support … throw an amendment on if you need to, but c’mon … put us on the agenda already! I’m a little removed from what’s going on in Austin during this hectic part of the Session, but I’m pretty sure if we don’t move the bill forward in like the next -2 days, we might be in trouble … Just sitting there for like two weeks seems odd, assuming it’s ready for a simple yay or nay. I suppose it’s possible we’re getting Fristed somewhere in the process. Or, perhaps they’re just having a sincere intellectual dilemma, inspired by Amy Calistri’s question:
Why is the PPA wasting time feigning a “grass roots” issue over a Texas bill whose only beneficiary is commercial poker – in a state where poker is unquestionably legal? … It doesn’t exactly meet my definition of fighting the good fight. I mean, even the banking lobby doesn’t ask me to petition my legislators for higher ATM fees. And they can be shameless.
[OK, deep breath, find peace ... no tilt]
Cool event went down this week in Washington DC — a fundraiser for Put a Bad Beat on Cancer, where a bunch of politicos got together with Team Full Tilt Howard Lederer, Phil Gordon, and Rafe Furst to experience the joys of getting beginner poker lessons and playing in a terrible an exciting, luck-friendly blind-structure tournament (with rebuys!) … all for a good cause.
Check out the video coverage from Politico.com:
My observations:
